1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to thimbles primarily adapted for use in sewing and in particular to a sewing thimble that is flexible to conform to the finger and prevent injury to the finger from the needle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional thimbles are well-known and have been constructed in various forms. In the past thimbles have been constructed of relatively hard material that does not completely conform to the finger. The disadvantage of this type of thimble is that it is injurious to the finger or, fingernail, causes pain and causes discomfort to the user. Also, most surfaces proposed, because of the hard material; do not allow the user to feel the needle, with the finger the thimble covers, while pulling the needle through material.
Other thimbles have been proposed that have slots or openings with rigid projections for the provision of the extension of the fingernail of the user. An example of such a structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,447,774 by L. B. Salisbury for Thimbles. This thimble suffers from the disadvantage of other rigid thimbles and the disadvantage that the projection for the fingernail presents harsh edges which can, while the thimble is being used, break the fingernail.
Another type thimble has been proposed such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,207,762 by A. M. Levey for Rubber Thimble which disclosed a rubber thimble which apparently fits snuggly upon the finger of the user. This proposed thimble has a hard material embedded throughout, except for the top of the finger behind the fingernail which thimble area is constructed of rubber to allow for various sized fingers. This thimble has the disadvantage that the user cannot feel the needle against the finger while pulling the needle through material and suffers from the problems noted for other conventional rigid thimbles.
Yet another type thimble has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,967 by E. L. Schiavone for Sewing Thimble, this thimble disclosed the conventional rigid thimble but has a friction material covering part of the outer surface of the thimble to assist the seamstress in pulling the needle through thick or resistive material. It is noted this thimble suffers from the disadvantages previously noted for the other conventional hard or rigid material thimbles.